Angelo Sotira, who launched DeviantArt as a teen and helped cultivate one of the internet’s earliest creative communities, is once again setting his sights on reshaping digital art — this time, through the way it’s experienced in physical space.
On Thursday, Sotira introduced Layer, a high-end digital canvas engineered specifically to showcase cutting-edge digital art at its finest. Designed to seamlessly blend into elegant living spaces, Layer is not your average screen.
“The way a canvas should behave in your life is totally different from a regular display,” Sotira told TechCrunch. “It has to enhance, not disrupt, the environment it lives in.”
The most familiar comparison might be Samsung’s The Frame, a television that doubles as wall art. But Layer goes further — it’s not meant for casual consumers, nor is it mimicking paintings or photography. With a starting price of $22,000, Layer caters to collectors and art institutions seeking the ultimate platform for generative digital works.
“We spared no expense or effort,” said Sotira. “This is, in our opinion, the best way to display digital art on a wall.”
Layer isn’t for displaying digital photos or looping videos. Instead, it’s built for complex generative art created by artists like Casey Reas — pieces that evolve over time based on custom-coded instructions. Unlike AI-generated art that scrapes the internet for training data, these works are built from the ground up by artists writing original software.
Displaying such pieces demands serious computing power. Each work runs in real time on Layer’s internal GPU, controlling every pixel without compression — a key reason behind the display’s steep price.
“You’re seeing art rendered live, governed entirely by code, without compromise,” Sotira explained.
As someone who spent years fielding pitches at DeviantArt, Sotira knew what previous digital displays lacked: intuitive usability and long-term integration into daily life. Layer is designed to be plug-and-play — once set up, it automatically curates and sequences artwork with minimal user input.
“These displays often lose their charm once the novelty wears off. With Layer, it has to feel effortless — even after five years on your wall,” Sotira said.
Despite its niche appeal, Layer has attracted notable investor interest. While still in stealth mode, it raised $5.7 million from firms like Expa Ventures, Human Ventures, and Slauson & Co., along with angel investors including Twitter co-founder Evan Williams and Behance co-founder Scott Belsky.
Layer is also building an ecosystem around its hardware. Buyers receive a subscription that grants access to an exclusive library of digital art, with royalties distributed to artists based on viewing time.
“At our core, we put artists first,” said Sotira. “That mission is baked into everything Layer does.”
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